The US Continues to Lose Its Share of Crypto Developers While Emerging Markets Start to Take Off

In the 2024 Developer Report, we highlighted several shifts in the global distribution of open source crypto developers, building upon trends captured in our 2023 report.

The geographic landscape of crypto development is becoming increasingly diverse. While traditional crypto hubs like North America, Western Europe, and East Asia have seen a decline in their share of developer activity, emerging markets are rapidly gaining ground.

Key trends from the 2024 report include:

Crypto is global

By January 2024, 74% of web3 developers lived outside the US. India now has a 12% share of developers, while the UK, Germany, and France each have over 5%.

74% of crypto developers live outside of the US

Emerging markets are rising

South Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Western Africa, and Southern Europe collectively increased their share of developers by 20% since 2018.

Traditional hubs are declining

North America, Northern & Western Europe, Australia & Pacific, and Eastern Asia collectively lost 23% share since 2018. This trend underscores a geographical shift towards emerging markets with potentially more favorable regulatory environments and growing crypto communities.

The United States had the largest decline in developer share

In our 2023 report, the United States was already seeing a decline in its share of developers, and this trend continued in our 2024 report. Since 2018, the US has lost 14% developer share, dropping from 40% to 26% by the end of 2023.

Overall, the US, Germany, Australia, UK, and Canada lost the greatest share, while India, Nigeria, France, and Argentina gained the most.

The evolving distribution of developers highlights the dynamic nature of crypto. As new technology is developed to support more use cases, and as regulations are updated around the world, we should expect to see continued shifts in developer activity and regional momentum.